Method for regulating the vaporisation of a vaporiser in an inhaler

Abstract

A method of controlling vaporization of a vaporizer in an inhaler, wherein the vaporizer is heated by means of electric resistance heating, and wherein an electronic control device controls the current flow through the vaporizer, comprises the following steps: determining an initial point corresponding to the start of a draw by a consumer; taking measured values of the current applied to the vaporizer in time sequence from the initial point; determining a transition point between a range of low vaporization and a range of high vaporization in a time-dependent current measurement series corresponding to the measured values; determining a current value Iv corresponding to the transition point; setting a current interval [I1; I2] depending on the determined current value Iv; and controlling the current flow within the set current interval [I1; I2].

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for controlling the vaporization of a vaporizer in an inhaler, comprising:
 providing a vaporizer heated via electrical resistance heating; 
 providing an electronic control device that controls a current flow through the vaporizer; 
 taking measured values of a current applied to the vaporizer in time sequence starting from an initial point; 
 determining a transition point between a range of low vaporization and a range of high vaporization in a time-dependent current measurement series corresponding to the measured values; 
 determining a current value I v  corresponding to the transition point; 
 setting a current interval [I 1 ; I 2 ] as a function of the determined current value I v , where I 1  is a lower threshold and I 2  is an upper threshold; and 
 controlling the current flow through the vaporizer within the set current interval [I 1 ; I 2 ]. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the transition point is determined via a regression to the time-dependent current measurement series. 
 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the transition point is determined on the basis of at least one line of best fit and/or at least one best fit polynomial to the time-dependent current measurement series. 
 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the transition point is determined by a step change and/or the reaching of a threshold of the rise of the time-dependent current measurement series. 
 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the transition point is determined by an extreme value of the curvature of the current time-dependent measurement series. 
 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein two successive measured values are temporally separated from one another by less than 10 ms. 
 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the recorded measured values are recorded over at least 10% of a draw duration. 
 
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein an absolute value of the current interval |I 2 −I 1 | is less than 50% of an absolute value of the current value I v . 
 
     
     
       9. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the lower threshold I 1  and/or the upper threshold I 2  are set such that the lower threshold I 1  is smaller than the current value I v  and/or the current value I v  is smaller than the upper threshold I 2 . 
 
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the current flow through the vaporizer is pulsed, wherein a duty cycle of the current flow through the vaporizer is increased when the lower threshold I 1  is reached from above and/or reduced when the upper threshold I 2  is reached from below. 
 
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the lower threshold I 1  and/or the upper threshold I 2  is determined as a function of an analysis of the average squared current I{circumflex over ( )} 2  over a defined time interval. 
 
     
     
       12. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the current interval [I 1 ; I 2 ] and/or the lower threshold I 1  and/or the upper threshold I 2  are shifted to lower currents over time. 
 
     
     
       13. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein data relating several time-dependent current measurement series are stored in a data memory and compared with one another and/or with fixed parameters. 
 
     
     
       14. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein an ambient temperature is measured and the current interval [I 1 ; I 2 ] and/or at least one of the lower threshold I 1  and upper threshold I 2  is fixed and/or adjusted as a function of the measured ambient temperature. 
 
     
     
       15. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the current flow through the vaporizer is controlled by switching on and/or maintaining the current flow through the vaporizer at a current less than the upper threshold I 2 , or switching off the current flow through the vaporizer at a current more than the lower threshold I 1 . 
 
     
     
       16. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein determining the current value I v  corresponding to the transition point comprises determining the current value I v  corresponding to the transition point in real time. 
 
     
     
       17. The method according to  claim 6 ,
 wherein two successive measured value are temporally separated from one another by less than 5 ms. 
 
     
     
       18. The method according to  claim 6 ,
 wherein two successive measured value are temporally separated from one another by less than 2 ms. 
 
     
     
       19. The method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the measured values are recorded over at least 30% of the draw duration. 
 
     
     
       20. The method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the measured values are recorded over at least 50% of the draw duration.